Brief History of the Anguilla Ferry Service

If you are like me, you just enjoy the convenience of being shuttled to and from St. Martin by the ferry service without wondering how the whole service came into being. I asked some of the grey heads on the island how the service came about and I got a little "his-story".

In the 1940's and 50's, when Anguilla was still under the authority of the St.Kitts government, cargo was transported via sail boats. Boats would sail between Blowing Point, The Forest Bay, Sandy Hill Bay and Marigot. To my surprise, Anguilla supplied St. Martin with food. This was due to the fact that Anguilla recieved their food in bulk from St.Kitts and then turned around and resold it to neighboring islands. This trade fostered the dependence on vessels between Anguilla and St. Martin. The boats were said to race to Anguilla from Marigot after delivering goods. Out of that competition was born our national sport, boat racing and the Anguilla ferry system started.